Perinatal Neuroscience Foundations Certification.​

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Every perinatal professional works with the brain, whether or not we explicitly name it.

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Cognitive changes, emotional reactivity, mental load, trauma responses, attachment patterns, sleep disruption, and vulnerability to perinatal mental illness are not personal failures or vague stress reactions. They reflect real, measurable neurobiological change during pregnancy and postpartum.

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When you understand how the parental brain adapts and where it can become vulnerable, you are better equipped to validate clients' experiences, reduce shame, strengthen assessments, and intervene with clarity and confidence.

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This 2-day Perinatal Neuroscience Intensive brings together the full depth of our former 6-week training into two focused, live learning days. It is designed for therapists and perinatal professionals who want neuroscience that directly informs clinical thinking, language, and care.

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2-Day Live Intensive
May 29 & 30
9:30am–2:30pm EST​

Instructor: Dr. Jodi Pawluski, PhD, PMH-C

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What This Training Covers

This training explores the neuroscience of pregnancy and postpartum for both birthing and non-birthing parents, grounded in the latest research and science-based findings led by a leading parental brain neuroscientist. We examine how the brain changes, what drives vulnerability to perinatal mental illness, and how care, context, and intervention shape outcomes. 

Participants will learn to challenge harmful narratives like “mommy brain” with evidence, and understand risk, resilience, and recovery through a neurobiological lens, while integrating neuroscience into everyday clinical conversations and interventions.

 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1) Describe foundational neuroscience concepts relevant to brain structure, function, and plasticity during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

2) Critically evaluate the concept of “mommy brain” and mental load and understand how to work with clients struggling with these experiences.

3) Identify how hormones, caregiving experience, feeding mode, stress, mental load, and attachment relationships influence parental brain function.

4) Recognize neurobiological correlates of perinatal mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, trauma, and perinatal loss.

5) Apply neuroscience-informed knowledge to clinical assessment, psychoeducation, and brain-health focused intervention planning with perinatal clients.

6) Identify and apply neurobiological understanding and evidence-based strategies to protect and enhance perinatal brain health.

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Who Should Attend

• This is an intensive training for health care providers from around the globe

• The course is open to a broad range of professionals: social workers, psychotherapists, psychologists, midwives, nurses, OBs, psychiatrists, pediatricians, family doctors, psychiatrists, etc.

• Anyone working with perinatal populations or anyone interested in the parental brain can attend.

• PMH-C practitioners

• No prerequisite is required.  

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CE Credits

• More information coming soon. 

• For specific agency CE approval, we are always happy to provide any information specific agencies request.

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​Each Participant Will Receive

• Downloadable PowerPoint presentations

• Established tools of intervention for use in supporting perinatal brain health

• Unlimited access to online resources, research articles, and recordings tailored to the course syllabus

• 30% discount on Mommy Brain (Demeter Press).

• Certificate of Completion

• Digital Certificate of Completion for the clinician’s website.

• Opportunity for ongoing group mentorship and/or individual mentorship with Dr. Jodi Pawluski, when available. 

 

​Course Modules

• Module 1: Introduction to the brain — understanding baseline neuroscientific concepts; re-examining the meaning and social use of “mommy brain.”

• Module 2: Brain changes in parents — how pregnancy and postpartum (for birthing and non-birthing parents) impact brain structure and function; effects of hormones, parenting experience, feeding mode, etc.

• Module 3: Attachment, stress, and mental load — how stressors, mental load, expectations, and parent-child interactions relate to brain changes and parental mental health. 

• Module 4: Perinatal mental health and the brain — examining how perinatal depression, anxiety, psychosis, trauma or loss affect the brain; introducing ways to integrate this knowledge into clinical support and interventions. 

• Module 5: Supporting perinatal brain health — strategies to protect and enhance brain health: sleep, exercise, nutrition, social support, psychotherapy, medications, possibly brain stimulation, and applying evidence-based approaches. 

• Module 6: Putting the parental brain into perspective — broader societal and systemic factors influencing parental brain health; integrating neurobiological knowledge for perinatal support, mental health risk mitigation, and care planning.

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“The parental brain is part of the foundation that society is

built on. As such, we must prioritize and support its development.”

-Dr Jodi Pawluski

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